Geraardsbergen and Vlaardingen 21-24 June Howard left on Friday morning with our friends Marg and Adrian. He was competing in a 24 hour fishing competition in Vlaardingen NL with our friend Ruud, and I had the weekend to myself on the boat in Geraardsbergen (Grammont) BE. Howard, Marg and Adrian caught a train to Brussels, and then picked up their hire car at about 11:30. They stopped at Ikea at Breda on the way where Howard picked up a few things including a cupboard for the boat. Marg and Adrian had never been to Ikea before so it was quite an experience. As well, they all had fish and chips for lunch at the Ikea cafe. It was about 5:30 before Howard dropped them off at their hotel just south of Amsterdam. On the way back to Ruud's place Howard picked up our new fridge, which we had ordered on-line, and then had a pleasant evening with Ruud sorting out gear and discussing tactics for the match the next day. Although it was an 11am start, Ruud and Howard had to be there at 8:30 to select their peg and set up. How much gear do you need for a pairs 24 hour fishing competition? Bit of gardening to prepare the peg It was beautiful weather and they enjoyed themselves and Howard learned lots. Petra (Ruud's wife), came along with coffee and Chinese take away to keep them going. After finishing at 11am on Sunday and packing up, it was time for a lazy afternoon and nap. While Howard was away fishing I had a long weekend by myself on the boat. I had a long list of jobs to do, but also had a chance to look around the town. Geraardsbergen was a nice little town to spend a weekend. We saw the market square and church with Adrian and Marg before they left. We learned that the mannekin pis here is 160 years older than the one in Brussels. On Saturday morning I walked up to de Muur (the Wall), which is quite famous. It is the only city hill in Flanders and is included in the Tour of Flanders. It is a short sharp hill with a maximum slope of 20 degrees - very steep. So of course there were plenty of cyclists training. And I visited the Abbey park on the way home. Sunday morning was the local flea market in the square. This guy decided to take up residence in our tyre. I decided to take a ride up the river to the next town Lessines which is in Wallonia (they speak french there), about 10km upstream along the tow path. There I found the Hôpital Notre-Dame à la Rose, which was a hospital run by nuns and is now a cafe and museum. Unfortunately the museum didn't open until 2pm, so I had a look around town and then lunch at the cafe. The museum itself was very interesting. I had an audio guide in English. There were many interesting displays including the outfit of a plague doctor and some gruesome equipment. But of course in the old days the main way of curing people was to tend to their spirit rather than their body so their was a lot of emphasis on prayer. Rich families often donated to the hospital and they had some real treasures. And they had extensive farms etc., including a medicinal herb garden still there On my return to the boat I found another barge moored in front of us. It turned out to be an Irish couple, Winnie and John, who we had first met in Kampen in 2017. I ended up joining them for dinner at a nearby restaurant and had a pleasant evening with them. So I had a productive and fun weekend in Geraardsbergen. Howard got back to the boat at about 12:30 on Monday and we loaded the shopping into the boat. This included the new fridge, and the new cupboard. The old fridge has been moved into the hall outside our bedroom, with the new cupboard on top. The cupboard that was there has been moved into the lounge. Finally we have enough fridge space, and even more cupboard space. So on Monday afternoon we returned the hire car to Brussels and caught the train home, and then assembled the Ikea cupboard, then took all our rubbish and recycling to the harbour rubbish area. After a drink in the marina bar, we came home again for a lovely BBQ dinner on our back deck.
We were all shipshape ready for our cruise into Wallonia on Tuesday.
1 Comment
Cheryl Poustie
26/6/2019 01:02:38 am
Wow! That was some news and amazing photos of the delicate and ornate museum items. How's the plague doctor's outfit! Tough times then. The ornate inlaid woodwork cupboard/storage is also impressive.....
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
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